TRP: Gavi and Luci (Zahra)
ABBY The castle, day 254 Gavi'd been eager for her two boys to meet, so she'd hauled Timur up to the castle bright and early. It warmed her heart seeing 'em get along-- and she woulda smacked them if they hadn't, and they both knew it. They'd did some gardening, and that was fun, but Gavi'd kept catching herself suffocating poor Timur. So she'd left him with Griffin and went for a walk. (He needed time to process too-- he was the one that'd...) During her wandering she happened across Luci, looking like she was fixing to head out. "Hey, Luci!" she called, lifting her hand and making her way over to her. "What're you up to?" IZZY Luci looked up at her blankly, then adjusted the strap of her bag across her shoulder. Ah. Yes, right. Even though she'd clearly punched him in the face, Hansel has still told Gavi she could bring Timur around the castle. Bizarre. "Going into town," she said. ABBY "Yeah? Hey how about I come with you?" Be a good excuse to get out, clear her head some more. And let Timur clear his. Plus, time with Luci. IZZY Well, Luci certainly couldn't stop her, but she didn't understand the motivations, either. Then again, she rarely did. "That would be all right," she said, blinking, and turned to head out the door. ABBY Huh. Was Luci always like this or was she mad or something? Gavi shrugged and followed her. They walked in silence for a short while, Gavi shooting Luci considering glances. What was going on in that head of hers? Well, good way to find out was askin'. "Hey are you gonna stab me if I touch you?" she asked. Good to establish a baseline. IZZY "Oh." Ah, she had met Jonn. "No, but I would prefer it if you didn't. It's nice of you to ask. Why did you punch Hansel yesterday?" ABBY Well if that didn't come practically outta no where. "Shit, uh, to be honest I kinda forgot I even did that." Gavi ran her hand through her hair, thinking back. "Oh uh. We were talking about Gruumsh. I got pissed off, took a swing at him." IZZY "Hm." Gavi hadn't seemed injured when they got back. Hansel must not have retaliated. Luci was torn on whether that was good or not. "You should probably avoid talking about Gruumsh with my family," she suggested. "We have strong opinions and most of them are. Stabby." ABBY Gavi chuckled. Stabby, now that was one way of putting it. "Yeaaaah. Me and your dad kinda agreed to that. Cept then we didn't hold to it." IZZY Luci nodded solemnly. "Yes, that sounds like Hansel." The two of them seemed quite alike, in some ways. It was unfortunate that there was a major, key difference between them. ABBY "Don't worry I'll try to do better, going forwards," Gavi said. "I like your dad, don't want to stab him. Or have him stab me." IZZY That satisfied her. "That would be ideal, yes. If something happened to you, I could take Timur to the Sanctuary of Eldath, where I grew up, but they're pacifists. I don't think you would approve of them." They had reached town, by now, and Luci started for the little apothecary. Hansel collected what herbs he could in the woods, but some of her medical supplies had to come from further away -- and they had candles and incense there, as well, which she needed for her altar. ABBY "Pacifists huh?" Yeah. Just like Little Creek. "People like that don't know how to protect themselves. It's not safe. You know well as I do what woulda happened to Little Creek if we hadn't been there." Ah, she was gearing up for a good old rant again. "Well-- anyway. Prefer Timur stays somewhere where people know how to fight." Ideally, back with the orcs, but Gavi wasn't sure he'd stay right now. When she was gone, what guarantee would there be that Timur wouldn't just run on back to his dad? The thought sent a fearful chill down her spine. IZZY Luci watched her with interest. She still habitually wanted to defend the Eldathyns -- possibly point out that she had turned out all right, after all. But she likely would have died when she and Jonn were younger, without him, and other children would have too, because of the Eldathyns' refusal to fight. It wasn't safe. She understood that. She wondered if Gavi had noticed that Luci, herself, was not a pacifist. "There are paladins at the Sanctuary," she offered. "They're not Eldathyns, but they do help to keep things safe. I understand your reluctance, though." ABBY "Lemme tell ya, when you're a mother who's lost a kid, there's no such thing as safe enough," Gavi said wryly. "Thanks though. For the offer." Some people, Gavi might have clapped on the shoulder about now. Luci'd asked that Gavi not though, and she'd respect that. IZZY She tilted her head a little, wondering if that was true for all mothers, or all parents. # # # Luci was no good at haggling, but she'd made a little gold healing some sick people in town, and Hansel had given her some more. It was more than enough to cover the herbs she needed, and pick up her candles, too. Gavi tried to carry them for her, which puzzled Luci severely, and she declined. When they stepped outside again -- Luci patting her bag to smooth it out because Jonn had told her it was better to not look as though you were carrying much -- she paused for a moment, trying to remember if they needed to restock anything in the castle kitchen. She thought they might be out of that cheese Mishka was always eating. Perhaps she ought to go ahead and get some, so that he didn't wanted off in the middle of the night. ABBY Luci was terrible at haggling. It was kinda adorable. Gavi figured she'd help out, and hung back just out of Luci's eyeline and shot the storekeeper dangerous looks any time he brought the price up too high. Didn't take long for Luci to get her things, and then they were out again. Gavi hung back, watching Luci to see if she was going to take off to another store, 'cept then a familiar face caught her eye. "Zahra?" It was her! "Zahra Headsplitter!" Gavi crowed. Upon hearing her name, Zahra turned. Also grinning widely when she recognized Gavi. "Hey if it isn't the Rotcatcher!" she mocked. "What are you doing still alive, thought you'd have been long dead by now." "Yeah yeah fuck you too," Gavi said affectionately, pulling Zahra into a hug. "Hey, hey Luci look. S'my friend Zahra. Zahra, this is Luci. Say hey." Zahra sized Luci up, and then in a very flat tone, said, "Hey." IZZY Luci raised a hand, just as flatly saying, "Hello." ABBY Zahra's eyes narrowed, not that Gavi noticed. "Oh c'mon you two don't be boring." Gavi rolled her eyes, elbowing Zahra. "Hey, hey what are you doing in town? Didn't expect to see anyone here. It's the middle of fuckin' nowhere." "Oh you know," Zahra said, still staring Luci down. "Stuff. Things. Hey, what's the deal with the human anyway?" she asked, glancing at Gavi and jerking her thumb towards Luci. "She your new pet or something?" IZZY Ah. This woman was either rude or didn't understand how things worked outside of orc territory. "I'm not a pet," she explained helpfully. "I'm an independent person. Gavi is friends with my dad." That was, perhaps, an oversimplification. ABBY Zahra gave her a flat look. "Yeah nobody asked you, pet." "Hey!" Gavi shoved Zahra, scowling. "She's--" what was Luci, to Gavi? "--my friend. So you better fucking behave before I gotta make you." IZZY Luci stared at Zahra. She wasn't a fearful person; the woman was taller and stronger than her, as most were, but she had magic. It also seemed that Gavi was willing to stick up for her, which was a safety net not unlike standing next to Hansel. "Oh," she said. "You're an asshole. I understand." ABBY "Hey you watch your mouth you little--" Zahra managed one step towards Luci before Gavi planted herself between them. "I said fucking behave!" she snapped. Now she remembered why she'd quit hanging out with Zahra so much. So fuckin' easy to provoke. "Ya kinda are being an asshole y'know!" Fuckin' Luci though too. Kinda encouraging it. "Look we're all gonna take five seconds and chill the fuck out before I gotta punch somebody, got it?" IZZY Luci took an automatic step back. She tapped her staff against the street and commanded: "Leave." Before she had even registered whether the spell took or not, she'd tapped again to summon a floating spectral dagger by her shoulder, poised to lunge. ABBY Zahra's face blanked for a moment, and then she turned around and walked away. Gavi gaped after her a second, looking at the spectral dagger Luci had summoned and yep. This was gonna get messy. "Okay time to go now," she said, placing her hands on Luci's shoulders and steering her up the road back towards the castle. "Zahra ain't gonna like that and I would rather avoid having to stab my friend, aright?" IZZY Luci rolled her shoulders away from Gavi, but started to go along with it, muttering, "Well, I didn't like being called a pet." Then she stopped, and turned to face Gavi instead, looking back towards town. "I'm not done shopping," she said firmly. ABBY "Oh for fuck's-- look. Luci. You're not a pet. You're a great young lady. But Zahra is a jackass and she's gonna be real pissed at you for that stunt you just pulled, okay?" As if on cue, a bellow of rage could be heard a short distance away. Aw fuck it. "Look, we can come back later okay but can we please leave right now." IZZY Luci narrowed her eyes. Her jaw tightened. "I live here," she said lowly, and cracked her staff against the street again, pointing it towards Zahra without looking, sharply commanding: "Run." Then she turned on her heel to sweep off, stewing. ABBY Well. That was certainly something. Gavi watched, slack-jawed as Zahra took off down the street. And then snapped her mouth closed and scrambled after Luci. "Okay but how often are you gonna be able to do that? Cause you're gonna run out and then what, huh?" IZZY "I won't run out," she said, her tone clipped. "And if your friend doesn't get the message clearly enough, I am not a pacifist." ABBY Aw, well, shit. Gavi really hoped Zahra didn't get lucky and shake one of those things off. Cause then she'd have to pick a side-- and she wasn't sure which one to pick. (Huh. Bout a week ago that choice would have been obvious.) "Well- all right then- but can we hurry at least?" she asked, glancing back at where Zahra had stopped running away and was running back towards them, warhammer clenched in both hands. "She's not gonna get any less mad, and all." IZZY Luci clicked her tongue, glanced over her shoulder, and cast it again, making Zahra bolt in the opposite direction. She scoffed. "What an unpleasant person. Why are you friends with her?" ABBY Gavi watched Zahra running off again. On some level this was comical. On another she was worried about Luci's head staying attached to her shoulders. "She's a cousin or some shit. Same age, we trained together for a bit. Always had got on my nerves though." IZZY She grumbled. There were other clerics at the Sanctuary that were like that, for her, but at least they were merely annoying and not violent. "Well, I greatly prefer you to her." ABBY "Yeah? Well, thanks," Gavi said, wincing as Zahra stopped running, but took a moment to smash a barrel with her hammer and cuss up a storm. "But really yeah can we please hurry." IZZY Luci huffed. She didn't appreciate being rushed. Actually, she didn't appreciate any of this. The more she interacted with people outside of the Sanctuary, the more she understood why Hansel and Jonn had turned out the way they were. She cast the spell one more time before they reached the castle, and stepped inside briskly, bolting the door behind them. Shifting the strap of her bag over her head, she flatly said, "If she's the reason that my stepdad doesn't have cheese to eat later, he may incinerate her." She paused. "I suppose I could just not tell him about it." Yes, that would probably be best. ABBY Gavi groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can we please go with that option? I really want to like you guys but if you go run around murdering my tribe then shit. I don't know what I'm gonna do about that." IZZY "Well, I'm not in favor of incineration," Luci clarified. She started towards the kitchen, to grind up her new herbs, looking back at Gavi. "But she probably shouldn't go around calling people pets." ABBY "She doesn't back home," Gavi commented idly, following Luci. "Maybe it's cause you're human. Want a hand with those?" IZZY "She called me 'the human'." Luci did air quotes, like she'd seen Goro do when he was being sarcastic. "That seems likely. I'm all right, thank you." She started to stand up on tiptoe to grab the mortal and pestle -- Hansel always forgot that he was taller than everyone else, somehow -- then dropped back down. "Actually, could you get that for me? It's quite heavy." ABBY "Sure." Gavi grabbed it and glanced around, found a clear counterspace and set it down for Luci. "Yeah uh. Y'know how it is?" she said, scratching the back of her head. "Or, well, probably you don't. She just didn't know you is all. Y'got an orcish soul," she said, grinning at Luci. IZZY Luci gave her a puzzled look. "You said that like a compliment, but I don't understand it." She flipped her bag open to pull out some dried mint leaves and started grinding them up, adding, "Thank you," and tapping the side of the mortar. ABBY "Oh well, I mean like... you're fierce. Got a warriors spirit. Just a little hard to notice at first." Gavi leaned against the counter, making sure there was enough elbow room where she wasn't in Luci's way. "And you're welcome," she added. IZZY "Oh." She paused, and considered for a moment, then went back to grinding. "Is this a reincarnation thing? I don't know much about reincarnation." ABBY Gavi snorted out a laugh. "I hadn't meant it that way, but it'd make sense. Probably were an orc in your last life. Carried over strong." IZZY Fascinating. Luci pondered that. She should do some research about reincarnation. "Maybe Jonn was, too. Maybe we were still siblings." Then, thinking about the fight with the hydra, she commented, "I imagine Mishka was, as well, if that's how that works." ABBY Gavi scowled. "Not him," she said sharply. Ah shit they were both hims, she should clarify. "The elf I mean. Orcs don't reincarnate into elves, and elves can't reincarnate into orcs. Orcs got a lot stronger souls," she explained, rapping her chest. IZZY "Oh." She'd have to investigate that claim herself. Then she squinted, looking up from her work, as a ramification of that statement sunk in. "Does that imply, then, that human souls and orc souls are of the same ... strength?" Did souls have strengths? Puzzling. ABBY "Well-- no, not really. See, orcs have the strongest souls, and elves got the weakest," Gavi explained. "I ain't sure what the rankings are really between 'em but, they'd be weaker. Sorry." Why was she apologizing anyway? IZZY "This seems very complicated." Content with the consistency of her mint, Luci brushed it out into a little jar, cleaning the mortar with a sleeve, then reaching for another bundle. "How could I be a reincarnated orc, but have the weaker soul of a human, and Mishka not, because he has the weaker soul of an elf?" she thought aloud, absently. ABBY "Uh, shit, I don't think I understand it too good either," Gavi admitted. "I'm a paladin, I'm the punchy type of religious." IZZY "Ah." Luci nodded. Yes, that did make sense. "I'll do some research on it, then. Maybe we have books about reincarnation in the library." ABBY "I'd offer to let you tell me 'bout what you find, but I don't trust those scholars to get it right, and then I'm gonna get mad about how they get it wrong." IZZY She perked up a little bit, glancing Gavi's way. "Yes, I agree. I always get as many sources as I can. It's irresponsible to trust just one." ABBY "Unless your one source knows what he's talkin' about." Gavi trusted Bloodgrut to know. After all Gruumsh talked to her too sometimes, and the two had yet to contradict. IZZY "It's difficult to verify the truth, though," Luci said. "Upstairs, in the library, there's a kitsune who lives under a table. She's friends with Goro. Anyway, she was alive before the Calamity happened, so one time I asked her some things about the Golden Age, and it contradicted what I'd read in a book written by an elf who was alive then, too. When I mentioned that, she realized she'd just misremembered. Facts are funny things." ABBY Gavi crossed her arms, scowling again. "I know what I believe," she said sharply. "I got my facts. I don't have to go digging everywhere to find new ones." IZZY Luci stopped to look at Gavi, and blink at her. What an odd woman. Luci really didn't understand her. Maybe she'd ask Jonn for help; he was better at this sort of thing. "All right." She went back to work. "I like digging." ABBY Gavi slowly untensed. What was she doing, snapping at a fuckin' kid. She was better than that. "Hey uh. Sorry. Just get... touchy, you know? You have fun with your research. S'good to stretch that brain of yours." IZZY She nodded. "Mm. I agree." And after a second, she added, "At least you didn't insult me and threaten me with a warhammer." ABBY Gavi laughed. Now that was a good one. "Yeah, at least I didn't do that." IZZY END Title: Zahra. Summary: Gavi goes into Glimmerton with Luci, defending her from an old friend who isn't a fan of non-orcs. The two talk about reincarnation briefly. Category:Text Roleplay